


Chantal's War

by segerge



Series: TASK FORCE [41]
Category: HERO Champions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:56:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6409666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segerge/pseuds/segerge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(2003) My take on the canonical 2003 South Indian War, which in the TASK FORCE universe is actually being fought over the body of a slumbering Breton witch from the Arthurian era whose castle has been moved to just outside Chennai in India.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chantal's War

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : occult themes, disturbing imagery
> 
> * * *
> 
> #### DRAMATIS PERSONAE
> 
> **TASK FORCE (covert American supergroup)**
> 
>   * LTG Ted Jameson (AKA Ranger), Director of PRIMUS, disgustingly-powerful speedster
>   * Julie Dormyer Hawkins (AKA Ladyhawk), Chairman of the Board of Directors for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful ninja with latent powers of temporal visualization
>   * Dr. Bob Hawkins (AKA Starforce), Senior Research Scientist for ProStar, disgustingly-powerful power-armor wearer/gadgeteer
>   * Olivia d'Alembert (AKA Thelambra), supermodel, wife of Ted Jameson, luck-based Empyrean telekinetic
>   * David Kayami (AKA Grandfather), disgustingly-powerful Navajo-themed supermage/cleric
>   * Jason Kayami (AKA Ghostbane), Brick with powers of magic absorption
> 

> 
> **Villains**
> 
>   * Shadow Destroyer, alternate timeline version of Doctor Destroyer
>   * Graham Jeffrey, former Morbane of DEMON, Shadow Acolyte of Shadow Destroyer
>   * Luther Black (AKA The Edomite), Foul Master of DEMON
>   * Black Shepherd, member of DEMON's Inverted Trinity
>   * Jack Fool, member of DEMON's Inverted Trinity
>   * The Left Hand, member of DEMON's Inverted Trinity
>   * Holo-D, holographic AI interface to the late Doctor Destroyer's technical database
>   * Oubilette, magical creation of Shadow Destroyer, shadow-powered assassin
> 

> 
> **other:**
> 
>   * Venkatraman Chowdhury, Indian billionaire
>   * Rashindar, disgustingly-powerful Indian supermage
>   * Jillian Hawkins, daughter of Bob and Julie
>   * Archon, Crown Prince of the Empyreans
> 

> 
> **AUTHOR'S NOTE 1** : Telepathy is denoted by (( )), internal monologue by [[ ]]
> 
> * * *

**PROLOGUE** : The Obsidian Caves, near the border between Guamanga and Honduras

(A Morbane of DEMON is strapped to an operating table hung between four ornately-carved and gem-encrusted stone pillars. Shadow Destroyer slowly paces around the bound Morbane before sitting down on an equally-ornate throne at the opposite end of the room)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Tell me more of this woman for whom your master is searching."

**Morbane** : "I've told you everything I know, Destroyer..."

(Shadow Destroyer idly waves a hand. Crystals on the ceiling above the interrogation table swivel and play multicolored beams of light over the Morbane, who screams at their touch)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "No, you haven't."

**Morbane** : "Everything you do to me the Edomite knows instantly! I'd rather DIE than tell you anything."

**Shadow Destroyer** (holding a bloody gem up in one hand): "Because he can see through your Soul Gem, right?"

(the Morbane gasps in shock. Shadow Destroyer proceeds to hold the 'liberated' Soul Gem in front of him and wave at it)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Hello? Anyone home?"

(Shadow Destroyer looks at the Soul Gem one more time, then resumes looking at the Morbane)

**Shadow Destroyer** (crushing the Soul Gem in his gauntlet): "It appears Mister Black isn't picking up right now! How unfortunate for you."

**Morbane** (gasping): "All right. What do you want to know about Chantal?"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Well, I *was* going to ask you for her name, first. Thank you for volunteering that." (beat, gets up off his throne and walks over to the interrogation table) "Now tell me why Mister Black is so interested in this 'Chantal'."

**Morbane** (gulping): "I don't know."

(Shadow Destroyer gestures toward the ceiling, and more colored beams play over the Morbane for a couple of seconds. He then waits patiently for the Morbane's tortured screams to subside)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "WHY is Luther Black searching for Chantal? I grow impatient with your stubbornness..."

**Morbane** (screaming and sobbing): "I DON'T KNOW!! I'M TELLING YOU THE TRUTH!!"

(tense pause as the sobbing subsides)

**Morbane** (continuing): "He's only been looking for her since since the Basilisk Orb ritual at Nan Madol in 1968!"

**Shadow Destroyer** : "NOW we're getting somewhere!" (beat, paces around the interrogation table) "Why were you looking for her in Millenium City?"

**Morbane** : "Black Paladin and Talisman were attempting to bring her back into existence there until the Champions stopped them!" /* the 5ed gaming module 'Shades of Black' */

**Shadow Destroyer** (sitting back down on his throne): "Interesting."

**Morbane** (whimpering): "Kill me. Please kill me now..."

**Shadow Destroyer** (interrupting): "Why? You know FAR more than you think you do, and you still amuse me for now." (beat, leans back while placing his fingers into a steeple in front of his helmet) "Now, what connection would either Black Paladin or Talisman have with Ms. Chantal?"

* * *

(Nouveau Forêt du Chevalier Noir, north of Chennai, India. Sunset, sometime in June)

(Venkatraman Chowdhury paces on the balcony of a restored medieval-looking castle overlooking a lake. To the southeast, across the lake, the lights of Chennai can be seen. He is having a heated conversation with someone over his cellphone)

**Venkat** (to phone): "Listen, are you SURE ProStar's not interested in Nichols Research? I've got to dump that company on *someone* before its quarterly financials come out..." (he listens to the conversation at the other end while a servant escorts a powerfully-built shirtless man in white pants and a red sash out onto the balcony) "What do you MEAN they said Nichols' tech is inferior? They used to compete hammer and tong for the same research and development work for over 20 years!"

(the servant discreetly clears his throat, and Venkat registers his guest)

**Venkat** (to phone): "Look, I gotta go. I need a plan for selling or liquidating Nichols Research first thing in the morning. MY morning!"

(Venkat flips his phone shut and looks at his guest)

**Venkat** (to servant): "Thank you, Jasper."

(the servant nods and walks off)

**Venkat** (looking at his guest): "And you are... who?"

**Man** : "You may call me Rashindar."

**Venkat** : "I've heard of you."

**Rashindar** : "Good. That saves on introductions." (beat, sweeps a third arm that appeared on his body out of nowhere across the front expanse of the castle) "Are you aware of the history of this castle?"

**Venkat** : "Something in the Arthurian mythos. A battle between Launcelot and an evil knight, or something like that."

**Rashindar** (extra arm disappearing as suddenly as it appeared): "Your ignorance may yet kill you. And most of Tamil Nadu as well."

**Venkat** (suddenly angry): "It's. A. Myth! Nothing more..."

**Rashindar** : "It is history, Mr. Chowdhury, just as surely as I am standing in front of you right now!" (beat) "A history you risk repeating depending on how faithfully you shipped and restored this castle."

**Venkat** (proudly): "Very faithfully, I assure you."

(Rashindar winces and facepalms with his visible right hand. Two more arms underneath the visible ones shimmer into existence so he can continue to gesticulate while speaking)

**Rashindar** : "You broke into the tomb in the basement, didn't you?"

**Venkat** (confused): "What tomb?" (beat, slowly) "Unless you're talking about the metallic vault we found down in the lowest level..."

**Rashindar** : "You didn't break it open?"

**Venkat** : "We tried so we could ship it easier. It resisted my contractors' best efforts, so I had to get a little inventive in shipping it intact from France to here." (looks at Rashindar) "So it's a tomb, huh?"

**Rashindar** : "You are not to open that vault under any circumstances, Mr. Chowdhury." (turning around as the extra pair of arms vanish) "ANY."

**Venkat** : "Or what? The world will end?"

**Rashindar** (over his shoulder): "Something like that."

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(tense pause as Venkat looks at the space Rashindar just teleported out of. He then pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and with a moment of fiddling pulls up a voice note app)

**Venkat** (to phone): "Note. Get price quotes for teleport interdictors tomorrow."

* * *

(Trump Superworld Casino and Resort, Las Vegas, NV)

(Graham Jeffrey strides through the lobby)

**Jeffrey** (looking around, internal monologue): [[I would've thought they'd tear this place down after the incident four years ago]] /* 'What Happens in Vegas...' */

(he makes his way off to one of the service corridors and summons an elevator)

**Jeffrey** (internal monologue): [[instead, Universal unloads it on the Donald and makes HIM pay for the repairs. Sweet]]

(with a DING! the service elevator arrives. As he enters, he sees the button panel rearranging itself. His attention is drawn to the button labelled '13')

**Jeffrey** (murmured): "How about that. A Vegas casino with a 13th floor."

(he presses the button. As the elevator jerks into motion, the button panel rearranges itself again. When the panel stops moving, there is no sign of the button he pressed)

(with another DING! the elevator stops. The doors roll open to reveal the Black Shepherd's menacing silhouette in the hallway beyond)

**Black Shepherd** : "Follow me, Mr. Jeffrey."

(they walk past what appear to be several small bedrooms, then an office before expanding out into a lavishly-furnished living room)

**Jeffrey** : "Nice."

(their path through the penthouse finally leads through ornate doors into what should have been a Master Bedroom suite. A naked humanoid with dark hair and pale skin stands to one side, dark-purplish hellfire flickering over its freakishly-perfect musculature. A skinny man in a faded harlequin's outfit and broken scaramouche mask stands to the other side. Neither the Left Hand or Jack Fool are what's drawing Graham Jeffrey's attention at that moment, though)

(his attention is drawn instead to the human form on the bed in front of him, which is little more than a skeleton clothed in skin. Boils, cysts, and carbuncles cover its shriveled body, while pallid lips and toothless yellowish-brown gums wrap themselves around a tube for oxygen and multiple IVs run to the veins in his arms. What hair it has left is grey and dry as straw. A linen bandage is wound over its eyes, bearing two red, oval-shaped stains where they should be)

**Left Hand** : "Your courage will avail you for naught, traitor."

**Jack Fool** (cackling maniacally): "Traitor is as traitor does, he serves a master who never was..."

**Jeffrey** : "I was told the Edomite wished to contact Destroyer."

**Disembodied Voice** : ((indeed I do, Mr. Jeffrey. It is the only reason that you are still alive right now))

**Jeffrey** (looking around): "Could you show yourself, please?"

**Disembodied Voice** (chuckling): ((I already have))

**Jeffrey** (sighs): "Fine. Play your riddles on me, if that is what makes you happy."

**Left Hand** (growling, to Jeffrey): "You will treat the Edomite with RESPECT, traitor!"

**Black Shepherd** (restraining the Left Hand): "There will be plenty of time to kill the traitor *after* he communicates the Edomite's offer to his new master."

(tense pause, punctuated by the sounds of the medical equipment keeping the body on the bed alive)

**Jeffrey** : "And what is this offer that I am being kept alive to communicate to Doctor Destroyer?"

**Edomite** : ((there is a tomb of a Celtic witch, sealed for millenia, which has been relocated from France to southern India.))

**Jeffrey** : "You wish Destroyer to recover this witch for you?"

**Edomite** : ((my organization is *quite* capable of recovering her for ourselves)) (beat) ((IF we are undisturbed by those who would wish to stop us during the attempt))

**Jeffrey** : "You want Destroyer to attack India as a *diversion*, then?"

**Edomite** : ((yes))

**Jeffrey** : "What's in it for him?"

**Edomite** : ((the location of nearly two dozen fragments of the fuel core for that Lemurian super-weapon he's been so interested in for the past year. All conveniently scattered across the southern expanses of the Indian subcontinent))

**Jeffrey** (smiling): "Now we're getting somewhere!"

**Edomite** : ((I thought he might be interested))

**Jeffrey** : "When do we get the target list for Mandragalore fragments?"

**Edomite** : ((the Black Shepherd will be in touch when your invasion starts. Not until then))

**Jeffrey** (beat): "I will need to communicate your terms to my master."

**Edomite** : ((by all means. Your audience with me is now over))

**Black Shepherd** : "Come with me, Mr. Jeffrey."

(he follows the Black Shepherd through the penthouse back to the service elevator. With a DING! the doors open)

**Black Shepherd** : "You have 24 hours to communicate my master's terms to yours, Mr. Jeffrey. I'll be in touch."

(the doors shut, and the elevator drops for about a minute. With a DING!, the doors open on the Mezzanine Level of Trump Superworld again)

**Jeffrey** (internal monologue while leaving the elevator): [[glad THAT'S over]]

(he finds a Men's Room and locks himself into the first open stall. He pulls a small box out and presses the button on it)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!)

(the restroom stall becomes the Throne Room of the Obsidian Caves)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Well?"

**Jeffrey** : "The Edomite would like us to invade southern India so no one will notice him stealing the tomb of some Celtic witch."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Hm. Imagine that." (beat) "What's in it for me?"

**Jeffrey** : "The locations of two dozen fragments of the Mandragalore's fuel core across southern India, delivered to you after your attack starts."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Not very trusting, are they?"

**Jeffrey** : "You do need the core fragments, Master."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Which I would have found just fine on my own without the Edomite's help."

**Jeffrey** : "Not as quickly, though."

(behind his faceplate, Shadow Destroyer smiles)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "True." (beat) "Dismissed."

**Jeffrey** (bowing): "Master."

(Jeffrey leaves. Shadow Destroyer sits on his throne for a moment more)

**Shadow Destroyer** (internal monologue): [[oh, Mr. Black. For someone who wants to become a Qliphotic god you *really* should do a better job of policing your thoughts! You're making this almost TOO easy for me!]]

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II, Lakewood Village, TX. Late night, three weeks later)

(Julie 'Ladyhawk' Hawkins is prone on the bed of the Master Bedroom, t-shirt and sport bra off while Bob 'Starforce' Hawkins attends to an urgent need of hers)

**Starforce** (massaging her back): "There?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Higher, Nerd-boy."

**Starforce** (falsetto): "There?"

**Ladyhawk** (giggling while hitting Bob): "STOP it!"

(they laugh for a moment before Bob resumes the back massage higher-up on her back)

**Ladyhawk** : "To the left... oh, oh yes, right there!"

**Starforce** : "Wow, Ninjette, that muscle's tight."

**Ladyhawk** : "Tell me about it. I must've pulled it on that last tumbling sequence in my workout tonight."

(Headline News rolls over to top stories at the bottom of the hour as Bob works on getting Julie's muscles unknotted)

**Anchor** : "Good Evening. Breaking news out of southern India tonight. The city of Tirupati lies in ruins, the target of a lightning-fast military strike by forces associated with Doctor Destroyer. Annamarie Selzer has filed this report with CNN Center in Atlanta within the past ten minutes and has more details. Annamarie?"

**Annamarie** : "Dawn started like most other days in this city of 400,000 at the base of the Eastern Ghats in southwestern Andhra Pradesh state. Then, the horror began."

(shots of Shadow Colossi and Harnessed Shadows sprinting through an Indian city, with cars exploding and people screaming while running for their lives)

**Annamarie** (continued): "In a scene all too familiar since his return from the dead last September, Doctor Destroyer and a large force of techno-mystical constructs swarmed out of the mountain wilderness just north of Tirupati, spreading mayhem and destruction before them wherever they went."

(a map of southeastern India now appears, with major cities and topographical features helpfully added to it)

**Annamarie** : "Destroyer's force, not content with the destruction of Tirupati, continues its southward march along the slopes of the Eastern Ghats. Reports from Madanapalle, west of Tirupati, indicate another and equally-sized force is advancing across the southern extent of the Deccan Traps toward Bangalore. Destroyer's armies continue their breakneck advance, defying the abilities of the local police and military to organize a coherent defense against them..."

(Bob mutes the TV. Tense pause, held gaze)

**Starforce** : "When he attacked Indonesia last fall, he was after elements of the Mandragalore's fuel core. Is that what he's doing here?" /* 'Shadows Out of Darkness' */

**Ladyhawk** : "He was also interested in taking out Takofanes and the Crowns of Krim, too, during that incident." (beat, looks at the TV screen) "This feels too massive to be a replay of Indonesia. He's got something else up his sleeve."

**Starforce** : "Other than his arm?"

**Ladyhawk** (hitting Starforce again): "Stop it!"

**Starforce** (tickling Ladyhawk): "Make me."

(Julie squeals with laughter and flips Bob back onto the bed to tickle him. It doesn't stop there)

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. After work, the next day)

(TASK FORCE has gathered in the labs underneath the manor for a briefing)

**Ranger** : "By now, you've all seen the news reports out of South India concerning Doctor Destroyer's invasion." (beat) "Why THERE?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Right now, boss, all we have are theories..."

**Grandfather** : "Then let's narrow our questioning down. Has anything out of the ordinary happened in this area of India recently which might attract Doctor Destroyer's attention?"

**Starforce** : "Other than the Arthurian-era castle being moved from Brittany to north of Chennai? Nothing that I'm aware of..."

**Ranger** (holding a hand up to stop Bob): "Wait. A *castle* moved from France to India?"

**Starforce** : "Pretty much. The restoration just got done within the past month."

**Ranger** : "What do we know about the castle?"

(Bob looks to Olivia)

**Thelambra** : "The Forêt du Chevalier Noir was originally located southeast of Brest and just east of the Bay of Douarnenez. Its history dates back to the early 6th century in the years immediately following the drowning of Ys." (beat, smiles) "When I started calling around, I was fortunate enough to be directed to someone who actually remembered seeing the specific events associated with the castle's infamy."

**Grandfather** : "And those would be..."

**Thelambra** : "The origin story for the modern-day supervillain Black Paladin."

**Ghostbane** : "Yuck."

**Thelambra** : "Short version, Sir Lancelot left Black Paladin for dead after their last fight. Black Paladin's lover, a Breton witch named Chantal, had different ideas about his fate. Not able to fully heal him, she was able to place him in an enchanted slumber before returning to her castle and taking her own life."

**Starforce** : "Okay. That's morbid."

**Thelambra** : "Chantal's castle more or less survived and was repeatedly rebuilt over the next millenium and a half. Depending on who you talk to, either her body lies somewhere in the dungeons underneath or her ghost walks its halls." (beat, takes a drink from a bottled water) "Regardless of which it was, the castle acquired quite the reputation for evil things happening with its walls. A tradition which another source of mine told me continued through at least the end of World War II."

**Ranger** : "What was it used as then?"

**Thelambra** : "The Nazis used it as a sector headquarters for that area of the Atlantic Wall. I was told that the assault that finally cleared the Germans out wasn't very gentle on it, and it remained in a state of disrepair under numerous unlucky owners until about a month ago."

**Ranger** : "Now how did it end up in India? Unless we're talking Drifter-level super-magic, castles don't move themselves halfway around the world."

**Ladyhawk** : "*That* explanation is actually more mundane and egotistical."

(she taps the keyboard, and a young man of Indian descent fills the holotank)

**Ladyhawk** (continuing): "Meet Ventakraman Chowdhury, as of this year one of India's richest men."

**Grandfather** : "New money?"

**Ladyhawk** : "About as new as it gets. He made his initial fortune five years ago in Silicon Valley as a contract programmer for one of the more lavishly-funded dot-coms of that era. He cashed his stock options out *just* before the company tanked, then grew his net worth by at least three orders of magnitude diversifying his investment portfolio across a mix of hedge funds, European telecom companies, parts manufacturers, and industrial high-tech."

**Ranger** (eyes wide): "That sort of thing doesn't happen in a vacuum. Did he get lucky with his choices, or did he have inside help?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Mr. Chowdhury has been the subject of numerous investigations in both America and Europe during the past couple of years, and passsed them all with flying colors." (beat) "Other generations would have said he got extremely lucky. Myself... let's just say that I recognize a latent ability for temporal visualization when I see it."

**Ranger** : "Any common denominators in his portfolio that would indicate a connection with Destroyer or DEMON?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Surprisingly, no. A lot of the telecom and financial-sector companies in which he has a stake have rumored ties to VIPER, instead. The industrial high-tech was recently acquired after ACI's assets were liquidated post 9/11."

**Grandfather** : "Both groups with no love lost for either DEMON or Destroyer."

**Ranger** : "Am I correct in assuming he made detailed plans of the castle prior to tear-down in France?"

**Starforce** : "If he wanted any hope of rebuilding it accurately once he got it to his estate, yeah. Duh..."

(before Ted can reply crossly, Bob's fingers blur across his keyboard. A holographic representation of a pre-medieval fortress appears in the holotank and slowly spins in front of TASK FORCE)

**Starforce** (deadpan): "You'd think that someone who made his fortune on the Internet would choose a general contractor who had better online security."

**Grandfather** (leaning forward and pointing): "What's that?"

(everyone else looks at what David is pointing to. It appears to be a vault in the lowest level of the fortress)

**Starforce** (tapping at his keyboard): "Plan manifest says that it's some sort of metallic vault." (does a double-take at his monitor) "Huh, that's interesting."

**Ladyhawk** : "Mind sharing with the rest of us, Nerd-boy?"

**Starforce** : "Their records say that the vault was moved and reinstalled *intact*."

**Ranger** : "That can't have been easy."

**Ghostbane** : "Wouldn't it have been better to break it down and reassemble it?"

**Starforce** : "I would've thought so." (beat, taptaptap) "That might explain why they contracted the services of a Ukranian air freight company that uses An-225's for superheavy moves."

**Grandfather** (musing): "Now *what* could be so important about that vault that it would NOT be disassembled for shipping?"

**Thelambra** : "Something inside of it?"

**Ranger** : "Ya THINK?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Something worth waging a war to recover."

**Grandfather** : "Before we go rush off on a mission, we should keep in mind that there may be other reasons why Doctor Destroyer has started this war in this particular area."

**Ranger** (beat): "Such as..."

**Starforce** : "Based on what we discovered last year in Java, wasn't the Indian Ocean the original stomping grounds for the Lemurians pre-Toba?"

**Grandfather** : "Exactly my thoughts. He could actually be after Lemurian artifacts whose existence we don't know yet."

**Starforce** : "Or after more pieces parts of the Mandragalore's fuel core."

**Thelambra** : "Mr. Chowdhury's vanity purchase may simply be a target of opportunity."

(long pause)

**Ranger** : "We have WAY too many possibilities to explain what Doctor Destroyer is doing, and far too *little* hard data to narrow that list down." (beat) "I don't like that, people."

**Starforce** : "I can whip up a longer-range version of the sensor we've been using to detect fragments of the fuel core. If that's something Destroyer is after, that *should* help."

**Grandfather** : "The combat zone is roughly the size of California! Even YOU can't fly the search grid required..."

**Starforce** (smiling): "I never said anything about personally flying a search grid." (to Ted) "Is PRIMUS' GRIDIRON satellite still active?"

**Ranger** : "Yes." (beat) "Can you get to it with the Portal?"

**Starforce** : "Not a problem..."

**Ranger** (interrupting): "The less I know the better. Make it so."

**Ladyhawk** : "I'd still feel better if I knew *exactly* what's in that vault underneath Mr. Chowdhury's castle."

**Ranger** : "THAT is a mission for which we *can* plan."

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. Two days later)

(TASK FORCE is in the Portal Room underneath the Manor in full kit)

**Ranger** (to Ladyhawk): "Ready?"

**Ladyhawk** (bouncing on her toes to keep limber): "Yep."

(Ranger nods to Starforce. He activates the portal, and its familiar, pinkish-white swirling vortex is soon active up on the platform)

**Ranger** : "Remember, you're ONLY checking for traps."

**Ladyhawk** (shrugging): "What's the worst that could happen?"

(she bounces through the portal and is gone)

**Starforce** (muttering): "Nothing good ever comes from that line when it's said on _Schlock Mercenary_."

(beat, then there appear to be explosions and shotgun blasts from the other side of the portal)

**Starforce** (alarmed): "Julie?"

**Grandfather** (stopping him): "Wait for it."

(tense moment, then Ladyhawk somersaults back through the portal into a three-point stance)

**Ranger** : "I gather there were traps."

**Ladyhawk** (standing up): "Not anymore." (to Starforce) "Nerd-boy, I'll need you to EMP the sensor head when we all go through. We should be undisturbed after that..."

(from the other side of the portal, it appears multiple people are entering the tomb. One of them points to the portal)

**Ladyhawk** (throwing an energy shuriken through the portal): "Took them long enough."

(the people on the other side of the portal all drop unconscious)

**Ladyhawk** : "Okay. NOW we can all go through."

**Ranger** (facepalming): "Your husband has been a bad influence on you."

(she shakes her head and goes back through the portal. The rest of TASK FORCE follows. Ladyhawk points to the ceiling, and Starforce wordlessly EMPs the sensor head)

**Grandfather** (sniffing): "Pepper spray, gunpowder, and ozone." (beat, to Ladyhawk) "Shotgun and taser traps, right?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Mr. Chowdhury wasn't messing around."

**Starforce** (looking around): "The castle's also in the middle of a teleport interdiction field. Just how much money does this guy think he has?"

**Ranger** : "Cut the chatter." (nods toward the vault) "Reverend, you're up."

(Grandfather nods, plants his walking stick, and reaches a hand out toward the vault while his eyes go out of focus. Tense pause)

**Ranger** : "Well?"

(beat, then Grandfather's eyes come back into focus)

**Grandfather** : "Let DEMON have the Vault."

**Ghostbane** : "What?"

**Grandfather** : "There is dust and possibly a bone fragment or two in there. Some scraps of what might have been cloth or linen a long time ago as well."

**Thelambra** : "But no body?"

**Grandfather** : "If there ever was, it decayed into what I saw a *long* time ago."

**Ladyhawk** : "So we're wasting our time here, then?"

**Ranger** : "Not any more. Let's go before the guards you stunned come to."

(TASK FORCE steps back through the portal, which collapses into nothingness behind them. All that is left are the moans of the slowly-reviving guards)

* * *

(15 Central Park West, New York City. Friday night)

(the main elevator in the lobby of Olivia d'Alembert's penthouse suite DING!s and Ted steps out just in time for Olivia to step through the lobby. They kiss)

**Ranger** : "You weren't waiting downstairs for me like you usually do."

**Thelambra** : "I've been indulging in my new addiction."

**Ranger** : "Oh?"

(Olivia leads Ted into the living room. The big-screen TV is dominated with multiple browser windows, all at really good resolution)

**Ranger** : "I didn't think you could do that with a big-screen TV..."

**Thelambra** : "Robert whipped up a turbo-charged graphics card for me that could."

**Ranger** : "A misuse of his talents, I'm sure..."

**Thelambra** : "I can actually follow the events of the South Indian War quicker than the mainstream news outlets can!" (beat) "Is this what it feels like to be Robert and Julia?"

**Ranger** : "I wouldn't know."

**Thelambra** : "And you've been their friends and team leader for two decades? Shame on you!"

(they laugh and kiss)

**Ranger** : "Please tell me this isn't what we're going to be doing all weekend."

**Thelambra** : "I have two tickets to _The Producers_ for tomorrow night. How's that?"

**Ranger** : "The Mel Brooks film?"

**Thelambra** : "The musical with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. It's one of the hottest shows in town right now!"

**Ranger** (beat): "Oh."

**Thelambra** (closing browser windows on the TV): "There haven't been any war updates for several hours anyway, not since Bangalore got leveled by Destroyer's army."

**Ranger** (before he can catch himself): "No change from the siege lines around Hyderabad?"

**Thelambra** : "Indian forces *stopped* Destroyer's advance on Hyderabad?"

**Ranger** (beat): "You're not supposed to know that."

**Thelambra** : "Ah. Preserving National Technical Methods or something like that?"

**Ranger** (weakly): "Something like that."

(Olivia finishes closing all the browser windows)

**Thelambra** (suggestively): "Now that I'm off the internet, did you have anything in mind?"

**Ranger** (wrapping his arms around Olivia and leaning her back on her couch): "I'm sure we'll think of something."

**Thelambra** : "We could always watch a video..."

**Ranger** : "That depends on what it's rating is."

(smiling impishly, she grabs a DVD case off of the coffee table next to them and uses it to block her husband. Ted stops and sees that it's the movie "Battle of Detroit")

**Ranger** : "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

**Thelambra** (laughing): "But Kevin Costner played you!"

**Ranger** : "I'm not that wooden in real life. The Scottish actor that played Bob was more believable!" /* David Tennant, if anyone was wondering */

**Thelambra** (fake pouting): "No love for Electron?"

(awkward pause, held gaze)

**Ranger** : "Okay, you were good as Electron."

(their laughter is muffled by their kiss)

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor. One week later)

(TASK FORCE is down in the briefing room underneath the Manor)

**Ranger** (to Bob): "GRIDIRON Control mentioned something about anomalous torques and attitude excursions three days ago."

**Starforce** : "Yes, that would have been me."

**Ranger** : "You could have been a little less obvious."

**Starforce** : "And if I knew exactly WHICH hardpoint was open for the spectrometer I installed, I wouldn't have had to spacewalk down the length of the satellite's keel to get to it after I portaled onboard! Cut me some slack here, Ted..."

(Ted shakes his head and rolls his eyes)

**Ranger** : "Have you found anything?"

(Bob's fingers blur across the keyboard, and a map of southern India fills the holotank. Over a dozen blinking lights fill the map)

**Starforce** : "There were almost double the number of current hits when I started monitoring."

**Ladyhawk** : "Do you have any idea where they may be heading?"

**Starforce** : "The sensor hit north of Tirupati has been growing in intensity with each pass GRIDIRON makes over the War Zone.

**Thelambra** : "And Tirupati was the first city Destroyer hit in the war."

**Grandfather** : "Could that be Destroyer's headquarters?"

**Ranger** : "Sure looks like it."

**Ghostbane** : "So what do we do? Grab what he's got now then go after the remaining fragments ourselves?"

**Grandfather** (beat): "Why search for the fragments ourselves in the middle of an active war zone when Destroyer can do it for us?"

**Ranger** (shocked): "Are you suggesting what I THINK you're suggesting?"

**Grandfather** : "That we let him do our work for us, then steal all the fragments at once when he's done? Yes."

**Ranger** (beat): "Reverend? That's *brilliant*!"

**Grandfather** : "I just thought it'd be a great timesaver at my age."

(chuckles from around the holotank)

**Ranger** : "Bob are we going to have any problems monitoring the fragments over a long period of time?"

**Starforce** (shaking his head): "Shouldn't. The satellite's current orbit gives me two consecutive passes of the war zone every twelve hours. As long as GRIDIRON stays working we should know within 12 hours when Destroyer's little scavenger hunt is about to finish."

**Ladyhawk** : "Any idea when he's likely to have all the fragments?"

**Starforce** (looking at the holotank): "Like the Reverend said a couple of weeks ago, that's a really big area they've got to march through to retrieve 'em all."

**Ranger** : "A big area with terrain issues as well as a full-scale war ongoing." (beat, studies the holotank) "Frankly, I'd be surprised if he has the rest of the fragments within the next month."

**Ghostbane** : "So we sit back, relax for a month, and wait for Destroyer to finish his job?"

**Ranger** : "Basically."

**Thelambra** : "A lot of people could die between now and then."

**Ranger** (sighs): "I know."

* * *

(Nouveau Forêt du Chevalier Noir. Early July)

(two security technicians look over a console full of monitors, continually scanning the various security sensors installed around the castle. Two more guards are reading magazines in the back of the office)

**Tech 1** : "Look on the bright side. You could be trying to stop Destroyer's techno-demons around Hyderabad like my cousin Sri is right now."

**Tech 2** : "That has to be miserable, holding a trench line during the monsoons..."

(an alarm goes off on the console. Both techs immediately start scanning their panels)

**Tech 1** : "Teleport interdiction is offline."

**Tech 2** : "Get it back online..."

**Tech 1** : "I can't. Nothing's responding in that room!"

(another alarm joins the first)

**Tech 2** : "I have another hit, corridor in front of the Tomb. Looks like someone's taking a sniff at it again."

(the security guards are on their feet and grabbing assault rifles)

**Guard 1** : "Hopefully the traps will be more effective this time."

(both guards trot off out of the security office)

**Tech 1** (on the phone): "Yes, this is the Chowdhury residence... Yes, our guards are on their way but based on the last incursion they may not be enough... Yes, I know your resources are stretched thin with Destroyer's forces so close to Chennai! Can't you do something to help out?"

**Tech 2** : "Oh my god."

**Tech 1** (to the phone): "Stand by."

(he looks at what the second technician has been looking at. His face pales)

**Tech 2** : "They just herded their own agents into the room to spring all the traps."

(three DEMON initiates lay dead across the floor in front of the Vault, shredded by the shotgun shell traps between the door and the Vault. One acolyte pulls taser darts from his chest and laughs, while two more acolytes and a Morbane arrange paraphenalia for a ritual in front of the Vault)

**Tech 1** : "WHAT are they *doing*?"

(the harsh, staccato bark of automatic weapons fire can now be heard over the sensors in the Tomb. The Acolytes form a wall between the Morbane and the Tomb's entrance, returning fire with their magicks)

**Tech 1** (into the phone): "Our security guards are being KILLED by demons! Send superheroes. HELP US!!"

(Tech 2 grabs Tech 1's arm)

**Tech 1** : "What?"

(he turns to look, and to his horror finds Tech 2 slumped over the security console, dead. The Morbane who just stabbed him dead pulls a blade crawling with sickly purplish-black energies from out of his back, smiles at Tech 1, and waggles his pierced tongue at him)

**Morbane** : "Next?"

(Tech 1 screams)

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. Late July, evening)

(6-year-old Jillian Hawkins is looking enraptured at computer code on her terminal. Holo-D hovers over his case off to one side)

**Holo-D** : "Now take a look at the code I've highlighted in the SHA-1 decryptor library. These math operations have security risks unforseen by lesser minds which actually *increase* the probability of a hash collision during decryption by several orders of..."

(Jillian hears footsteps in the hallway from the direction of her twin brother James' room)

**Jillian** (interrupting, bringing a browser window in front of the code window): "Code 9!"

**Holo-D** (to Jillian): "Order of operations is critical in the creation of uranium hexafluoride. *Always* react your yellowcake with anhydrous hydrogen fluoride first BEFORE you oxidize with fluorine."

(Bob has peeked in midway through this dialog)

**Starforce** (to Holo-D): "Dude, not funny. Fluorine is Not Your Friend!"

**Holo-D** (stuffily): "If I don't talk to your children about fluorine chemistry, someone else will."

**Starforce** (shaking his head): "G'night, Jillian. Don't stay up too late."

**Jillian** : "G'night, Dad."

(Bob leaves. As he walks down the hallway to the stairs, he faintly hears Jillian ask Holo-D, "What's fluorine?")

(Now downstairs, he intercepts Julie coming upstairs from the gym. They kiss)

**Ladyhawk** : "All tucked in upstairs?"

**Starforce** : "Except for Jillian. She's on the computer with Holo-D."

**Ladyhawk** : "Oh?"

**Starforce** : "They think I don't know she's being taught how to hack OpenSSL."

**Ladyhawk** (giggling): "Our daughter the computer hacker. Who would've known?"

**Starforce** : "Just think. In a couple of years, you can ask *her* to break into the White House computer network instead of Tara Lemick." /* 'United States v. Hawkins' */

**Ladyhawk** : "Stop it..."

(they walk past the Library into the Master Bedroom)

**Ladyhawk** : "Oh, that reminds me. UNTIL picked up the track of the Vault we checked out last month near Chennai."

**Starforce** : "The one DEMON stole at the beginning of *this* month?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Yeah. It changed ships at Singapore yesterday, and it's now on its way to Los Angeles via Taipei."

**Starforce** : "Huh. So whatever DEMON hopes to accomplish with that Vault, it's gonna happen in America."

**Ladyhawk** : "Looks like it. At least UNTIL's paranormal investigators have better relations with their PRIMUS equivalents than their Operation SHIVA does. The handoff at Los Angeles should be painless."

**Starforce** : "How long?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Another three weeks or so."

**Starforce** : "Well, if it helps in wiping out the part of DEMON that didn't jump ship over to Destroyer's operations, the better. They're a group that give me the willies just THINKING about them."

**Ladyhawk** : "I hear that, Nerd-boy."

* * *

(Shadow Destroyer's Decoy HQ, north of Tirupati, India. Mid-August)

(a random Shadow Acolyte enters Destroyer's War Room and bows)

**Acolyte** (handing Destroyer a crystalline tablet): "Your enemy's latest dispositions, my lord."

(Shadow Destroyer takes the tablet and performs some swipes on it. The image of India on the main table is now overlaid with numerous red dots to the north, east, west, and offshore in both the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "I see that the Americans are leading from behind. Again."

**Acolyte** : "A large portion of their combat strength was tapped out when they went to war in Iraq earlier this year. The carrier battle groups off the coast of Andhra Pradesh and the B-52's on Diego Garcia are all they can spare to support the Multinational Force."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "I see." (beat) "What of their superhumans?"

**Acolyte** : "The New Knights of the Round Table, the Millenium City Champions, Tetsuronin, and the remains of India's Superhero Squad have finally formed up with the main army formations north of Hyderabad. Their attack is imminent."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "What about the forces from Mumbai?"

**Acolyte** : "An Army Division, UNTIL, and Mumbai's Santari superhero team have been making steady progress through our forces in the southern Deccan."

**Shadow Destroyer** : "And what of the Mandragalore?"

**Acolyte** : "The last fragment of its fuel core that was in southern India has been recovered and is in our possession here at headquarters."

(tense pause)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Well then, I think that it's about time to make the forces of good think that they've beaten Doctor Destroyer."

(Destroyer stands up from his throne)

**Shadow Destroyer** (continuing): "Signal to all forces. Commence Operation Pyhrrus."

**Acolyte** : "At once, my Lord."

(Shadow Destroyer walks imperiously out of the Throne Room)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Myself? I have an appointment to keep."

* * *

(Stately Dormyer Manor Mark II. Simultaneous with previous scene)

(TASK FORCE is in full kit, in the Portal Room, and ready to go)

**Ranger** : "The last fragment has been collected?"

**Starforce** : "Yes. Last orbital pass one hour ago showed no other fuel core sources in the Indian subcontinent."

**Ranger** : "Any last-minute questions on the battle plan?"

**Ladyhawk** : "Yes. It seems so brute-force for us!"

**Ranger** : "We don't have to hide our existence from anyone." (beat) "It's actually a little refreshing, for a change."

**Grandfather** (to Ranger): "Don't get cocky. Don't get carried away."

**Ranger** : "I won't, Pastor. Promise." (beat, looking at the strange device Starforce is carrying as a backpack) "Is it ready?"

**Starforce** : "Tested, even."

**Ladyhawk** : "That's a first."

(Starforce's faceplate hides Bob's eyeroll)

**Ghostbane** (indicating Starforce's backpack): "What is that thing supposed to do, again?"

**Starforce** : "You know how the Portal gets us from point A to point B?"

**Ghostbane** : "Yeah..."

**Starforce** (patting the backpack as best he can): "THIS allows me to use our generator at point A to move an arbitrarily-large volume from point B to point C!"

**Ladyhawk** (deadpan): "It simplifies our post-mission extraction."

**Ranger** : "Okay, then. We go in fast, we go in hard, we grab the Fuel Core, we get out. Starforce, spot our LZ's for us, you and Ghostbane will be on point for our advance through the base."

**Ladyhawk** (disappointed): "Not me?"

**Ranger** : "I expect the defenses to be MUCH heavier at this facility, and we have no need of stealth."

**Ladyhawk** (murmured): "It just seems so wrong..."

**Ranger** (to Starforce): "Light 'er up."

(Starforce works the control console. The Portal energizes)

* * *

(Shadow Destroyer's Decoy HQ, two minutes later)

(Starforce waits impassively at one entrance to a darkened meeting area)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(the rest of TASK FORCE springs into existence from Grandfather's teleport)

**Ranger** : "Starforce. Status?"

**Starforce** : "It's quiet, boss." (beat) "Too quiet."

**Grandfather** : "Starforce has a point. Our teleportation through their complex has to have been noticed by now."

**Ladyhawk** : "They could have fallen back to where they think we're heading. Let us come to them."

**Grandfather** (to Ranger): "Sound tactics."

**Ranger** : "I hear you." (to Starforce) "Where to from here?"

**Starforce** (pointing across the meeting area): "The right-hand corridor over there will take us to the Fuel Core."

**Ranger** : "Then let's go..."

(segment 2. It doesn't matter that Ladyhawk would normally go first, because TASK FORCE has just walked underneath someone who has a held action and has just used it on Ghostbane. A veil of shadow drops oddly across Ghostbane's face, who suddenly finds it impossible to breathe)

(effective DEX 35. Danger Sense screaming, Ladyhawk grabs the first Energy Shuriken she can find, sets it for flash-bang, and throws it at the ceiling. The cavern shakes from the thunderclap, the actinic flare of light driving all shadow away for a moment and revealing Oubilette standing on the ceiling while strangling Ghostbane as well as the Harnessed Shadows now all around TASK FORCE)

(effective DEX 33. Grandfather deploys an Arcanomatic Dismissal shield on a Trigger, expecting more foes to show up)

(it's now time once again for that staple of all TASK FORCE battles, the mass DEX 30 roll-off. This time, Ranger beats everyone and goes first. With a sharp BOOOM!! coming right on the heels of the echoes of Ladyhawk's flash-bang, he blurs and re-appears at this starting point. With a keening wail, 19 Harnessed Shadows fall apart into techno-mystic debris and die)

(still DEX 30, and Starforce goes next. He sees Oubilette strangling Ghostbane and, for lack of any other tactical direction at the moment hits her with a 30d6 TK Martial Strike. Oubilette drops off the ceiling and hits the ground, unconscious and mortally wounded [10 BODY and 47 STUN after defenses. Starforce rolled *that* good for a change...])

(effective DEX 30. The random acolyte who briefed Shadow Destroyer three scenes ago steps out of a shadow adjacent to Grandfather and with a vicious swipe of his Bazooka of Chaos staff breaks Grandfather's walking staff into pieces)

**Acolyte** (sneering): "Let's see you use your powers NOW, old man!"

**Grandfather** (unusually outraged): "I JUST MADE THAT WALKING STICK!"

(segment 3, effective DEX 35. Ladyhawk would have to be blind to miss the PER roll required to see the two Shadow Colossi now blocking TASK FORCE's way)

**Ladyhawk** (leaping toward the nearest Shadow Colossi): "SHADOW COLOSSI!!"

(landing on its shoulder, she hits it in the head with both katanas for 9 BODY and 6 BODY respectively)

(DEX 30, Ranger takes a Recovery)

(DEX 29. Dropping the Bazooka of Chaos, the Acolyte screams and clutches his eyes)

**Acolyte** : "I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T HEAR!!"

**Thelambra** (to Grandfather): ((that won't hold him forever))

(effective DEX 28. Ghostbane, now recovered from Oubilette's attentions in segment 2, looks at Ladyhawk stabbing both her katanas into her Shadow Colossi. He throws himself at that Shadow Colossi with his Strength set for Armor Piercing, doing 7 BODY to it)

(DEX 18. Shadow Colossi 1 hits Ghostbane for 3 STUN)

(also DEX 18. Shadow Colossi 2 misses Starforce with a Shadow Blast)

(segment 4, effective DEX 33. Grandfather puts his foot on the Acolyte's Bazooka of Chaos, which splinters into wooden debris under the attention of his "Don't EVER Do That!" power)

**Grandfather** : "He won't be needing THAT when he recovers his senses."

(DEX 30. Starforce flash-steps onto the shoulders of the other Shadow Colossi, grabs each side of its head with his gauntlets, and lets it have a 30d6 TK Martial Strike at point-blank range for 19 BODY after defenses [rolled 28, x2 for in the head, -18 ED, 50% Damage Reduction])

(DEX 25. Oubilette has barely come to. She plays possum some more, hoping to recover END and STUN)

(segment 5, effective DEX 35. Ladyhawk hits with her katanas twice more for 10 BODY and 10 BODY. It's already falling to pieces underneath her as the second katana strike connects)

(DEX 30. Ranger martial-slams the Acolyte on top of Oubilette. They're both out -- in Oubilette's case, again)

(DEX 29. Thelambra reaches out to the Shadow Colossi with her psionic powers, but there is no brain available for her to affect)

**Thelambra** (mixing French and English): "Merde! I should have known..."

(DEX 28. Ghostbane repeats his leap maneuver with the only standing Shadow Colossi for 9 more BODY)

(segment 6, effective DEX 35. An energy shuriken set for ranged killing attack administers the coup de grace on the remaining Shadow Colossi. It falls apart all around Ghostbane, leaving Starforce hovering in mid-air)

**Ranger** : "Let's MOVE, people! GO GO GO GO GO!!!"

(Starforce flash-steps deeper into the complex to spot more landing zones for Grandfather)

* * *

(Shadow Destroyer's Decoy HQ. One minute later)

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

(TASK FORCE flashes into existence again next to Starforce. They are in a larger room again; what looks like the fuel rod from a primitive nuclear-fission reactor is laid out and partly assembled on a table across the room from them)

**Ladyhawk** (striding to the Fuel Core): "FINALLY!"

**Grandfather** : "LADYHAWK! DON'T..."

(Ladyhawk bounces off of an invisible barrier in mid-stride and lands on her butt, undignified)

**Ladyhawk** : "AGAIN?" When will they ever *learn*?"

**Grandfather** (helping Ladyhawk to her feet): "I could say much the same about you."

(by this time, Starforce and Ghostbane are on either side of Ladyhawk)

**Starforce** (to Ghostbane): "I paint, you drain."

**Ghostbane** : "Let's do this."

(Starforce hits the ward with a low-level forcebeam, illuminating it for Ghostbane. Concentrating, he embraces the section of the ward in front of him and grimaces as he absorbs its energies. Tense pause, then Starforce's forcebeam spears through to the opposite side of the chamber)

**Ghostbane** (preparing to step forward): "Finally!"

**Ladyhawk** (Danger Sense screaming): "Ghostbane, NO!"

(Ghostbane stops in mid-step)

**Starforce** (forcefield rippling): "Allow me."

(one flash-step later, he is next to the partially-assembled fragment of the Mandragalore's fuel core. He stretches both hands out, and hits the floor between himself and his teammates with an area-effect telekinesis -- sufficient to set all the magical and mechanical traps off)

(there is an awkward pause after the mayhem around the Fuel Core subsides)

**Starforce** (deadpan): "That would have hurt."

**Ranger** : "Ya THINK?"

**Thelambra** : "We have more Destroyer forces incoming!"

**Ranger** : "Everyone, get around the Fuel Core!"

(The rest of TASK FORCE joins Starforce, who has been affixing the strange-looking device which he has been carrying to the case holding the Fuel Core. Telltales flash across it as it powers up, and Starforce looks satisfied with the results)

**Starforce** : "Okay, everyone, get close!"

(a familiar, pinkish-white swirl begins to slowly manifest around both TASK FORCE and the Fuel Core as a massive force of Shadow Acolytes, Shadow Colossi, and Harnessed Shadows breaks into the room)

**Starforce** : "Theta-boson express to the Valley of Arcadia, departing NOW!"

(zzzzzZZZZZAP!!)

* * *

**EPILOGUE** : The Valley of Arcadia, Antarctica. One hour later.

(Archon, Crown Prince of Arcadia, sits on a covered veranda overlooking one of the City of Gold's many parklands. The Aurora Australis dances overhead as subtle lighting illuminates paths through the park. TASK FORCE is there, enjoying refreshments with him)

**Archon** : "I am afraid that I have spent too much time at home recently instead of walking the Earth."

**Thelambra** : "Wanderlust again, my Prince?"

**Archon** : "The world is so much more interesting now compared to when I was your age."

**Ranger** : "So are you going to return to the Sentinels?"

**Archon** : "I was thinking more of a conventional military career this time. I haven't done that since I served with the Third Army in France."

**Ranger** : "Things have changed in the military since World War II."

**Archon** : "Then you wouldn't mind helping this old warhorse out when he enlists, would you?"

(they both chuckle)

**Grandfather** : "So how much of the fuel core are you now guarding?"

**Archon** : "Over a third, now. We Empyreans owe your team a favor we will be hard-pressed to repay." (beat, drinks his iced tea) "In addition to being in awe of the brass ones you all have to have for letting Doctor Destroyer collect all the fragments for you just so you could steal them from him."

**Grandfather** : "How secure are they here?"

**Archon** : "Very. Even Destroyer wouldn't risk the assault on Arcadia needed to get them back."

**Grandfather** : "I wouldn't be so certain of that."

(awkward pause)

**Starforce** : "My father has changed since his alleged return from the dead. It's almost like he's a different person."

**Ladyhawk** : "And he wasn't the most stable of personalities to begin with prior to Detroit."

**Archon** : "We will keep that in mind, Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins." (beat, enjoys some grapes) "Changing the subject, your team went on a war-related mission prior to the recovery of the Fuel Core fragments. Anything the Empyreans need to be worried about?"

**Ranger** : "DEMON was after a tomb underneath a castle which had been moved from France to India."

**Archon** : "Why?"

**Ranger** : "They thought it contained the remains of a Breton witch caught in suspended animation for over a millenia."

**Grandfather** : "If there had been a body in that tomb, it had decayed to dust ages ago."

**Archon** : "Was there any *other* significance to that tomb which would prove useful to DEMON?"

**Grandfather** : "None."

**Archon** : "What ended up happening?"

**Starforce** : "DEMON teleported the entire tomb out from under the castle."

**Archon** : "Were you able to trace it?"

**Ladyhawk** : "The castle's new owner threw around enough money for the government to persuade the supermage Rashindar to attempt a teleport trace." 

**Ranger** : "That trace led UNTIL to a freighter that left Mumbai after Destroyer's forces were driven away. They followed it to Singapore, where the Vault was transferred to a container ship sailing for Los Angeles."

**Archon** : "So DEMON is located somewhere in America?"

**Ranger** (beat): "Possibly."

**Archon** : "Nothing good ever comes from an answer that vague. What happened?"

**Ranger** : "We picked the trail up from UNTIL in Los Angeles where another holding company was contracted to ship the Vault to an intermodal center in Salt Lake City. It never got there."

**Grandfather** : "Why that way?"

**Ranger** : "What do you mean?"

**Grandfather** : "With something as massive as the Vault, I would have thought that if it was being shipped somewhere east that they would go via Arizona and New Mexico." (beat) "Less mountains to climb that way."

**Ranger** : "So they were headed for a destination roughly between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City." (beat) "That still covers a lot of real estate."

**Starforce** (making an INT roll): "The truck was going up I-15. That means it had to go through weight stations at the Nevada, Arizona, and Utah borders."

**Ladyhawk** : "What would checking the weight stations tell us... Oh!"

**Starforce** : "Exactly."

**Grandfather** : "The truck will be much lighter after the Vault has been offloaded. Very good, Dr. Hawkins!"

**Ranger** : "I'll have PRIMUS investigators get right on that as soon as we get back."

* * *

(the 13th Floor, dimensionally adjacent to Las Vegas, NV)

(the Edomite is being helped out of his bed, fully disconnected from his life-support equipment. Except for the bandage around his eyes, he actually looks normal if a bit elderly)

**Edomite** : "Quickly! I can only sustain this form for an hour before it decays again!"

(servitors lead the Edomite elsewhere in the Penthouse Suite, into a large room that resembles a warehouse. The Vault from the Forêt du Chevalier Noir occupies the center of it, surrounded by a summoning circle engraved on the floor and braziers of burning incense at each of its points)

**Black Shepherd** : "There is considerable magical activity within the Vault in the last few minutes. I suspect we may have triggered a spell of revival when we started our ritual..."

**Edomite** : "Or the spell of suspended animation was weakened when the Vault arrived on the Thirteenth Floor."

(there is a vast, metallic CLICK! from the Vault. Tense pause, then the door which resisted all efforts to open it for over 1,500 years ponderously creaks open)

**Edomite** : "WELL?!?"

(there is a feminine-sounding groan from inside the Vault. The Edomite signals to two of his servitors to enter the Vault, which they do. There is a flash of energy from within the vault, and two hideous screams)

**Voice** (female, like an ill omen spoken by ravens): "WHO DISTURBS THE SLUMBER OF CHANTAL?"

**Edomite** : "Why don't you exit your tomb and find out?"

(tense pause, then a a beautiful woman with pale skin and black hair staggers out of the Vault)

**Chantal** (to the Edomite): "And who, pray tell, art thou supposed to be?"

**Edomite** : "One who can grant you more in this world than Giles de Morphant ever could."

**Chantal** (beat, examining the Edomite): "Your true form is so frail, yet your mystical energies so strong... Tell me more of these boons which you wish to grant me."

**Edomite** : "In a moment. Surely you hunger after being suspended between this world and the next for so long?"

**Chantal** : "That I do." (beat) "Do you have a name, frail man?"

**Edomite** : "You may call me 'Luther'"

**Chantal** : "I require fine food and clothes, Luther!"

**Edomite** : "Which you shall have forthwith, milady." (claps his hands) "Servitors! Attend to the lady's needs!"

(the surviving Morbane servitors bow and scamper out. The Unholy Trinity escorts the Edomite out next. The Edomite is practically dancing with joy as the door to the warehouse closes. Beat, then Chantal's body swims and blurs, becoming that of Shadow Destroyer)

**Shadow Destroyer** : "Mister Black, you glorious, magnificent FOOL! So blinded by your search for the last person you saw in your vision at Nan Madol that you never considered the possibility that others would use that against you?!?"

(the booming, maniacal laughter changes vocal spectrum from male to female as he shape-shifts back into Chantal's form)

**Shadow Destroyer** (as Chantal): "And should my plans with the Mandragalore not work out, your ritual on Leap Day nine years hence will be an adequate substitute!"

(still laughing, he/she spins like a joyous dervish around the warehouse)

* * *

(fin)


End file.
